But Wells Fargo tumbled more than 3 per cent, set for its biggest drop since mid-April, after reporting lower-than-expected revenue for the fourth straight quarter due to a decline in mortgage banking revenue. At 12:39 p.m. ET (1639 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21.42 points, or 0.09 percent, at 22,852.1, the S&P 500 was up 2.12 points, or 0.08 percent, at 2,552.76 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 7.35 points, or 0.11 percent, at 6,594.60. The Dow and S&P 500 edged 0.2% higher.

The gains were led by Apple and Facebook and Microsoft, which rose between 0.45 per cent and 1 per cent. The consumer price index rose 0.6 percent last month, below the expected gain of 0.7 percent.

Winners and Losers: After President Donald Trump announced the government would end subsidies to insurers under the Affordable Care Act, health care stocks took a hit including Tenet Healthcare (down 5.10 percent).

NASDAQ measures a number of indices reflecting the reaction of USA's high tech markets and business environments on the country's political and economic developments which have an impact on high tech markets.